His Lover
by kurgaya
Summary: Sequel to His Angel! After being shut out of the office by Matsumoto - god yes Matsumoto - Toushirou thinks about his feelings for the little brat who isn't so little any more. Good thing that 'little brat' is around to help! Bring in Ichigo Kurosaki.


**Title: His Lover (This story is the sequel to 'His Angel')**  
**Author: xTKx**  
**Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach etc.  
****Pairings: IchiHitsu  
****Spoilers: None I think  
****Summary: After being shut out of the office by Matsumoto - god yes Matsumoto - Toushirou thinks about his feelings for the little brat who isn't so little any more. Good thing that 'little brat' is around to help! Bring in Ichigo Kurosaki.**

* * *

"Hey taicho…"

Toushirou Hitsugaya scowled at the call from his fukutaicho, her tone of voice a very familiar one and to the smart mind of the taicho in the room it didn't mean anything good. The busty woman lounging on the sofa on the other side of the room was looking over at him with her wide sky blue eyes and Toushirou stopped the report he was filling out and put the brush down so that he wouldn't be tempted to snap it when his second in command told him what she wanted to say.

Upon seeing her taicho tune her words into his brain, Rangiku Matsumoto grinned, her own paperwork that Toushirou had forced upon her lying scattered around her, none of it completed, and she clapped her hands together happily. "Remember all those years ago when you met Ichigo-kun? Do you think he remembers?"

What on earth brought this up? "Matsumoto you haven't been drinking have you?" asked the taicho ludicrously because he knew for sure that she had not. He would have known if she had, but there was no way she could have snuck a bottle of her favourite sake into the afternoon because she had been caged under his watchful eye all day.

"Oh?" queried the fukutaicho, cocking her head to the side. "Don't you remember taicho?"

Of course he remembered. How could he forget the helpless child he had seen crying in the rain, trapped underneath the cold body of his mother? How could he forget the time he had had to spend trying to cheer the annoying brat up even though there were other things he could be doing on his rare break? How could he forget the daring orange hair that the child had, though Toushirou must admit that he was somewhat proud of the child for keeping his hair his natural colour (because there was no dye that could turn it that colour) even though he was probably picked on and bullied for it?

"He thought you were a girl," said Matsumoto, giggling as her taicho's face turned a shade of red; though in anger or embarrassment, she wasn't entirely sure.

Ah…yes. How could he forget _that__?_

"What does this have to do with anything Matsumoto?" Toushirou snapped, wanting to get off the topic and return to his report. Matsumoto had teased him for days about the fact that some little kid thought he was a girl and he wasn't able to tolerate her do it again.

"I was just wondering if Ichigo-kun remembers, that's all. Why don't you go and ask him?"

Toushirou almost said, 'why don't _you_ go and ask him?' but quickly realized that would be giving her a reason to leave the office, so he held his tongue. Truth be told he was a little curious. Though the teenager who had just beaten up the whole of Soul Society practically single-handedly had been just a young boy when they had met, Toushirou couldn't deny that he had sparked up an unfamiliar feeling in him. Whether it just be the need to help the sobbing boy or something more, all these years later the intelligence taicho still didn't know why exactly he had let little Ichigo Kurosaki worm him way into his heart that night.

"Go on taicho!" Matsumoto encouraged, bounding up from the sofa and skipping over to the desk where he sat. Toushirou watched her and sighed, knowing that if he had any sense he should get up now before his fukutaicho forced him out of the office.

"Fine," he said, defeated, then wishing he hadn't when he heard Matsumoto squeal in victory. Her hands shot forward and wrapped around Toushirou's right arm, pulling him out of the chair. Ignoring his cry of protest she dragged him across the room and shoved him out of the office doors.

"Have a nice day taicho!" she said, waving happily at his scowling, rather stunned expression, and then she rudely slammed the door shut in his face, not at all fazed by the appalled looks the passing division members were giving her.

_She_ had never shut _him_ out of the office before.

Gawking shamefully, his teal eyes blinking, the members of his division around him were lucky that he was so out of it to not hear their sniggers as their taicho's and fukutaicho's roles were reversed for the first time in history. She had shut him out of the office! Shaking his head in disbelief, the white haired taicho even had to go to the length of placing his hand up against the door to make sure it was real. Hard smooth wood came into contact with his fingers and Toushirou's mouth dropped open.

He was shut out of his office! And Matsumoto was inside. _Matsumoto _was inside.

He never thought he'd live to see the day. Resisting the urge to laugh uncontrollably – because that would be a very undignified thing for a shinigami of his status to do – the prodigy spun around on the spot and decided to wander Seireitei for a while, his haori fanning out behind him as his strode through his division. And hey, maybe he'd meet Ichigo Kurosaki on his travels.

He snorted at this thought and who he assumed was he 9th seat squealed upon passing him, half way through her bow. He ignored her, rolling his eyes at her actions, and continued the trek through his division, all people he walked past bowing to him as he went. He acknowledged them briefly, for it would be rude not to, and finally when he was over the shock of being kicked out of his office, he arrived at the gates to the 10th. The two people on guard greeted him as he went past and Toushirou was only a couple of steps down the path before he stopped.

Where on earth was he going? What on earth was he doing out of his office? There was paperwork to complete! (Maybe he wasn't so over the shock as he thought he was…) What on earth was he going to say to Ichigo Kurosaki when he met him? _If_ he met him.

'Oh hi! Do you remember me?' (With happy face and waving and everything. Don't see it? No, neither does he).

Yeah…not that. That sentence contains almost everything that he's against. He wouldn't just go up to somebody – anybody – and say 'oh hi!' really cheerfully. For god's sake, who do you take him for? The candyman?

Snorting once again, and glad nobody was around to hear it this time, Toushirou just decided to walk, completely unaware that sitting three divisions away, Ukitake-taicho sneezed.

* * *

Of all the things Ichigo Kurosaki thought he would do in his life, having a picnic with dead people was certainly not one of them.

Well, ok, scratch that. It wasn't really a picnic, even though there was the stereotypical red and black checked mat, and a basket, and food, lots of food, but sitting with his back against a tree watching the red head opposite him wolf down about four sandwiches in two minutes made Ichigo think that he was at a food eating contest, not a picnic.

His midget friend Rukia Kuchiki was sitting next to the fukutaicho of the 6th division, a cup of water half way to her open lips, and her eyes were fixed intently on the way Renji Abarai's jaw grinded the food in his mouth as he blabbered and blabbered, spraying bits of chicken everywhere. Utterly disgusting, was what both Ichigo and Rukia were thinking but they didn't dare say it out loud. But Ichigo didn't really give a damn about how much of the food Renji ate, after all it wasn't like he had to pay for it, and he wasn't really hungry anyway. He might grab a couple of chocolate biscuits before Renji sniffs them out but he was ok with the other male eating it all. And by the look on Rukia's face, so was she.

Another thing Ichigo thought he'd never be doing, having just broken into Soul Society and witness three of their taichos become traitors and all, was sitting here – anywhere - alive… theoretically speaking. He knew he had charged into Soul Society set on saving Rukia, but there had always been the growing doubt deep inside of him that he wasn't going to survive. And there were times when he was on the brink of death, like when Aizen had almost cut him in two, but somehow he had managed to get back onto his feet again after some healing. And then he wondered how. He was very glad that he was alive and that Rukia was saved from execution, don't get him wrong, but really, what were the chances he and his friends were going to be able to do it? They had faced the whole of Soul Society – and won! Won!

There must be a god out there that _really_ liked him.

"Renji – Renji please – please can you shut your mouth?" Rukia asked, her eyes now focusing on the grass beside her instead of Renji's poor eating habits. "You're disgusting."

"Fhuow fo?" asked Renji, his mouth full of cake.

"Errgh!" Rukia cried and she threw the cup full of water over her best friend. Renji let out a muffled shriek and shot to his feet, not moving quick enough to avoid the water, and he tripped over his own feet and tumbled backwards onto the grass and down the hill that they just happened to be sitting on.

The ice wielder looked over at Ichigo and said calmly, putting down the empty cup, "There's a river down there."

Silence.

SPLASH!

Rukia and Ichigo roared with laughter until their sides hurt. Renji wasn't going to be pleased, Ichigo knew, but it serves the red head right for being such an idiot. Ok, Renji was now one of his best friends but really, the guy is so dense sometimes he makes double cream look thin! And his temper gets on Ichigo's nerves. Though that might be because of his own temper and the way it clashes all –

"Oh my god!" Rukia suddenly cried, panicked and her laughter subsided, jumping to her feet and running down the hill, "Renji can't swim!"

And the howling from the berry continued.

When they had finally fished the floundering fukutaicho out of the river and pulled him back up the hill a couple of minutes later (Rukia had called upon the help of Ichigo because 'Renji was too much of a fat lump to carry by herself' as she had put it), Renji was scowling with his arms crossed to try and warm himself up, Rukia was happily munching away on a chocolate bar (now that there was no threat from Renji) and Ichigo was sitting back up against the tree again, a box of pocky in his hands. When Renji saw what flavour they were (strawberry) he had laughed outright and called Ichigo a cannibal (through chatting teeth) and the breathing strawberry had thrown a stick of pocky at him in response. Then Rukia had made a thoughtless comment by demanding that Ichigo stop throwing around his children and both Ichigo and Renji had spluttered and stared at her like she had just grown another head. It didn't seem Rukia had realized what she had said and Ichigo was somewhat thankful, thought he wasn't entirely sure why.

"Want some chocolate Renji?" Rukia asked, waving the bar under his nose. Renji wrinkled his nose and pulled his face away in what looked like disgust.

"I'll pass thanks," he said, "I don't want to end up in the river again."

"Good for you," said Ichigo, finishing off the pocky. "But I wouldn't mind seeing you trip over your feet again, it was very funny."

"Hey!"

"Sorry Renji," said Rukia, agreeing with Ichigo. "It was a laugh."

Renji pouted, his long red hair dripping down his face. "Well at least you both can swim…"

"I do not want to know how you ended up in the river Abarai," said an unexpected voice and all three of them jumped.

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" Rukia cried, bowing from her position on the grass.

"Kuchiki," Toushirou acknowledged, and then turned his attention to the wet red head and ignored the gaping orange haired teenager. "And I believe this is yours," he said, throwing the 6th division fukutaicho badge at its owner. Renji's eyes went wide when he caught it, not having noticed that he had lost it in the first place. "I found it floating in the river," continued Toushirou, "please don't lose it again."

"T – thank you Hitsugaya-taicho," said Renji, attaching his badge around his arm where it belonged.

"Just be more careful next time," said Toushirou. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

Ichigo watched him leave, his mouth still open. Was that Hitsugaya-taicho? The master of Hyorinmaru? The one who took on Aizen and almost died? But he's just a kid, argued Ichigo's brain, a cute kid at that but – No! He didn't even know the guy! But yes, he was very cute and those eyes, god those eyes! They just - Pull yourself together berry, you're not even gay! You can't fall for someone you've only just met!

**This isn't your first meeting**, nagged another part of Ichigo's brain, Zangetsu.

_Huh?_ Ichigo asked his zanpakuto. What on earth was Zangetsu talking about? He would know if he's met Hitsugaya before!

**Don't you remember? You've met him before.**

_When?_

**A long time ago Ichigo, a long time.**

Ichigo frowned. _You know, that doesn't help._

**Then why don't you go and ask him? I'm sure he remembers.**

Ichigo thought about it for a moment. Now that Zangetsu had mentioned it he was curious. Where would he have met a shinigami before? He didn't know they existed until he met Rukia! Shaking his head but believing his zanpakuto – why would Zangetsu lie? – he stood and ignored Rukia's and Renji's questions as to where he was suddenly drifting off to and what was that look on his face for, Ichigo started to trek in the direction that the icy taicho had just wandered in.

* * *

Considering he didn't dare go back to his office because of the cat that lurked there, the _fearless_ taicho had taken _refuge_ in a sakura tree round about the 13th division. He was sure Ukitake-taicho wouldn't mind, and he was sure Ukitake-taicho wouldn't disturb him either. The tree was in full bloom this time of year and the explosion of pink hid the taicho that was sitting on one of the branches pretty well. Toushirou was sure only someone who was looking for him would actually find him because really, how many taichos do you find sitting in a tree on a day to day basis?

Not many, exactly.

So now to intellectualize over his inner innuendos.

Ichigo Kurosaki was, without a doubt –

**Hot.**

_Hyorinmaru!_

The omnipotent ice dragon chuckled at his master's defiance.

_Kurosaki, the moron, is not hot!_ Toushirou snapped at his zanpakuto, however his face heated up to a colour that could match the cherry blossoms fluttering silently around him. The indomitable being inside of Toushirou's inner world raised his proud head and stretched his giant wings before settling back down again.

**I know every thought and feeling you have, little one,** the dragon reminded, **and there is no way you can deny your attraction to him.**

_Attraction? I am not attracted to that bright light-bulb of a boy like a bug Hyorinmaru!_

**And Matsumoto's allergic to sake. I am an extension of your soul, Toushirou, and I will not lie to you.**

Toushirou scowled, leaning back against the tree and closing his eyes. Yeah, ok, Ichigo Kurosaki did spark something inside of him, and yes (damn it) he was somewhat cute, especially when he was clueless, and his smile… damn that smile was just so perfect…

**Toushirou?** Hyorinmaru said suggestively, and Toushirou blushed again.

_Alright alright, dragon, I'll admit it!_

**Admit what?**

"Fucking tease," Toushirou muttered under his breath. _That I think Kurosaki is hot._

**And that you fancy him.**

_And… that I fancy him._

**And that you want him to kiss you and touch you and push you onto the bed and –**

_HYORINMARU!_

Laughter resounded through the white inner world like thunder and Toushirou shut the dragon out. He was trying to be serious here! He had never been attracted to anybody before and if what Hyorinmaru was saying was the truth – which he had no doubts that it was – then what in the name of Soul Society was in going to do? Should he act on his feelings? But after all, they were only feelings. It wasn't like he couldn't live without the orange haired human. He didn't particularly _need_ Kurosaki.

But he did _want _him.

Ah! What was he going to do? Nothing. They're only feelings and you're just going to lock them away behind that giant ice fortress of yours, he told himself, and do nothing. Yes. That's what he'll do. Because after all, it wasn't like the brat liked him back or anything.

Right?

"Hey!"

Toushirou fell out of the tree. The owner of the voice – one Kurosaki Ichigo – ran forward and caught the taicho before he hit the ground and grinned down at him when the boy realized he was lying in his arms. "You alright?" he asked.

Toushirou hit him.

"Put me down!" the taicho shouted, embarrassed. Ichigo did so, surprisingly gently, and then rubbed the back of his head as the shinigami before him sorted out his robes. "What do you want?" Toushirou snapped, clearly not happy at being scared so badly that he fell off of the branch.

"Just – err – well – "

Toushirou's scowl softened as the boy spluttered. "I'm…sorry," he said, avoiding eye contact. "I didn't mean to snap." And then as an after thought. "And thank you for catching me."

Ichigo blinked. "Um…you're welcome?"

Cold lips dropped into a frown. "Can I help you Kurosaki?"

"Um…Well…It's just that…" Ichigo frowned too. How could he say this? "I just wanted to thank you, I guess, because I never did all those years ago."

Toushirou nodded, slightly surprised that the boy remembered. "I'm sorry I could not have prevented the attack."

"It's alright," Ichigo quickly said, shocked that he could see guilt in the other's teal eyes. "It wasn't your fault." Though he didn't know how he came to that conclusion, a feeling inside of him refused to believe that it was the taicho's fault. "And – err…I'm sorry too."

"Oh?" said Toushirou after a moment's silence where they could only hear the whistle of the wind and the shaking of leaves. "For what?"

"For thinking you were a girl." Toushirou's face fell at the reminder and Ichigo's face turned to one of panic as he blabbered out breathlessly, "I mean, your-hair-was-down-and-long-and-you-were-cute-well-you-still-are-but-I-thought-you-were-a-girl-cause-no-boy-could-look-that-cute-and –"

"_Cute?_"

" –god-I-loved-your-eyes-and-you-were-just-so-nice-and-beautiful-and – oh crap."

But upon hearing the rest of what the fumbling teenager had to say, the anger and fire in Toushirou's eyes vanished and instead a look of confusion and a light blush spread across him face.

Ichigo Kurosaki – the boy who he fancied – thought he was beautiful?

Whoa… shit…

Ichigo was waiting for an explosion from the ticking-time-bomb-taicho. When it never came, his mind crawled out from behind the protective wall and his mouth gasped; "Um…Toushirou?"

"It's Hitsugaya-tai – oh fuck it."

And he grabbed the startled boy's collar and snogged him.

* * *

**Well here's the long(?) awaited sequel to 'His Angel'. Hyorinmaru was so much fun~~~! Hope you liked it (I sure do) and please review?**


End file.
